Coach knows highs, lows

AUDIO PODCAST: Michael "Sugar" Ray Richardson, the new coach of the London Lightning professional basketball team talks with Morris Dalla Costa about the ups and downs of his NBA career and his new job.

It was the top priority for London's National Basketball League of Canada franchise.

Owner Vito Frijia wanted to find a coach that was highly recognizable and well known.

With the hiring of Michael Ray Richardson the London Lightning have done just that.

There aren't many basketball fans that haven't heard of Michael (Sugar) Ray Richardson.

He's volatile, talented, out-spoken and ultra-competitive.

Richardson was taken fourth overall by the New York Knicks in the 1978 National Basketball Association draft as a slick guard.

Richardson's playing career was a succession of highs and lows. He was the first player in NBA history to lead the league in both assists and steals. When he was traded to the New Jersey Nets, he made the Eastern Conference all-star team.

But he was banned for life by NBA commissioner David Stern after violating the league's drug policy three times. He was reinstated in 1988, but he failed two more drug tests in 1991 and was suspended again.

Richardson then played in minor leagues and in Europe.

He has turned himself into a successful minor league coach. He led the Lawton-Ft. Sill Cavalry in Oklahoma to Continental Basketball Association finals in 2008 and 2009 and to the Premier Basketball League final in 2010.

Richardson had just returned Wednesday from Thailand, where he coached its national team for six weeks. He had several coaching options for this coming year. He chose London.

"Vito and Taylor Brown (general manager) are sincere people," Richardson said from an airport in San Francisco. "We are on the same page. We are all about winning. . . . I liked the challenge of going into a unique situation and being successful."

The NBL is certainly a special situation. The first-year league has seven franchises; London, Quebec, Saint John, Moncton, P.E.I. and Oshawa.

Richardson, 56, has been around. He's a basketball nomad who will go anywhere that allows him to continue in the game.

But he sees no different challenges in dealing with a new league such as the NBL compared to an established circuit like the NBA Development League.

"In my experience in minor league basketball . . . they are all the same leagues," Richardson said. "The only thing that makes the development league different is that it has the NBA name . . . the players are all the same. They want to get to the next level.

"We all have dreams. I have dreams of maybe some day being an NBA coach."

Richardson said it likely won't be the NBA, but they might make it overseas where they can make a pretty good living.

There is no place Richardson goes and no job he takes that his off-the-court issues aren't brought up. There were the suspensions for substance abuse and accusations he was anti-Semitic for comments made about Jews and Israel. A number of Jewish leaders came to his defence, saying his comments were misconstrued.

"I'm at a point in my life when I don't want to think about the past. I just want to think about the future. What's done 30 years ago has nothing to do with what's going on now," he said. "That's all behind me. I think things happen to you in life for a reason. I think it made me a better person and a better man. If you look at anybody's life in this world, who is perfect?"

Richardson said the tough times gave him a purpose.

"It made me understand how important life is," he said. "I'm here for a purpose and that's to help people. You aren't going to be able to save everyone but if you help three or four, that's going to be enough."

As for how people will perceive him?

"I can't control what people do," he said. "But I have moved on as a man and as a person."

As a basketball coach, there is no question what kind of man he is. He gets involved. Richardson will be noticeable.

"I'm the same kind of coach that I was as a player," he said. "I love to win. I'm very intense. I am serious about my job. I'm really, really fiery.

"I'm a basic guy, I understand the game well. I played it for 21 years as a professional. I understand players.

"I am all about winning. If you don't want to win, you can't get around me."

Richardson has already been scouting players and hopes to bring some of the guys who helped him win in Oklahoma.

"The city will embrace basketball, especially if you are a winner," he said.